MANILA, Philippines — As 2019 nears the homestretch, let us look back at the tales of joy, triumph and sorrow, the names and events that perked up and rocked the showbiz world and kept households and social media abuzz.
The feuding Barretto Sisters
The feuding Barretto sisters’—Gretchen, Marjorie and Claudine—were at it again. Only this time around, there were other personalities involved, including businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Earlier this year, La Greta and her Optimum Star sister reconciled after years of icy relations. Since then, they have been inseparable—from Claudine celebrating Gretchen’s birthday to Gretchen taking care of Claudine when she was hospitalized.
In October, Gretchen and Claudine found themselves in a word war against sister Marjorie, becoming the center of the spotlight which started in the wake of their father Miguel.
The Barretto sisters (from left) Claudine, Gretchen and Marjorie. (File photos)
A scuffle ensued between the sisters, at one point a Barretto niece was also reportedly involved in a catfight with her aunt Gretchen. Their spat later continued as a word-war over social media.
Marjorie even had a tell-all televised interview, with Ang later following suit to give his side of what happened and clarify some issues surrounding him and Gretchen.
Bea Alonzo, Gerald Anderson and Julia Barretto
Marjorie’s daughter Julia also found herself in the middle of a controversy when she was linked to the break-up of Bea Alonzo and Gerald Anderson.
After Bea fueled breakup rumors through a cryptic Instagram post, fans and followers were quick to blame Julia, who, days earlier, was spotted arriving together with Gerald at the birthday party of actor Ryver Cruz.
Gerald and Julia starred in the romantic film “Between Maybes”.
Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo (Photo by AIRYL YCO / INQUIRER.net)
Tired of being blamed for the breakup, Julia added fuel to the fire as she lashed out at Bea, saying that “her heartbreak should have been a private matter rather than a national concern.”
Actress Julia Barretto. Image: Screengrab from Instagram/@juliabarretto
As the “love triangle” topic raged, other personalities, including a Supreme Court Associate Justice and a Commission on Elections commissioner, likewise gave their two cents on the issue.
Altar date for Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicelli
A simple Instagram post by Matteo Guidicelli and girlfriend Sarah Geronimo thrilled fans and followers to the hilt.
The actor and pop superstar, who have been together since 2013, took their relationship to the next level when Sarah was spotted wearing a diamond ring while she had her arms wrapped around Matteo in a pictorial.
Although Matteo’s post did not confirm their engagement, congratulatory messages quickly followed.
Sarah Geronimo
(left) and Matteo
Guidicelli
His brother somehow confirmed the engagement, saying that they kept the news secret at first.
The actor even assured Sarah;s parents that he will take care of their daughter, promising them that he will give her a “happy life.”
Arjo Atayde and Maine Mendoza
After months of speculation, Arjo Atayde and Maine Mendoza finally confirmed that they were seeing each other.
The Kapamilya actor was the first to confirm their relationship during a press conference for his film “‘Tol”.
Meanwhile, the “Eat Bulaga” mainstay made her own admission through a blog post.
Image: Instagram/@markednicdao
Since then, the two have been a constant sighted together—from visiting a Disney-themed park to Mendoza happily joining the Atayde family for dinner.
They recently marked their first anniversary.
Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards
It was the love team that nobody expected.
Alden Richards, who sot to fame as the other half of Eat Bulaga and GMa’s “AlDub” love team with Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza, teammed up with Kapamilya star Kathryn Bernardo of the “KathNiel” tandem.
Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards will star in their first team-up film “Hello, Love, Goodbye”. Image: Twitter/Star Cinema
Alden starred with the other half of KathNiel love team in the Cathy Garcia-Molina directed film “Hello, Love, Goodbye”., which eventually became the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.
Angel Locsin
2019 was filled with blessings for Angel Locsin.
Aside from starring in “The General’s Daughter” which enjoyed an almost eight-month long run, Angel, was recognized for her charitable efforts, as well as being named as a peace ambassador and an anti-piracy ambassador.
She was also hailed as one of the “Heroes of Philanthropy” by Forbes Asia.
Angel Locsin
Angel got engaged to film producer Neil Arce recently.
Dimples Romana
All because of the noontime teleserye “Kadenang Ginto”, Dimples Romana enjoyed success thanks to her fierce character Daniela Mondagron (a.k.a. “Dani Girl” by her best friend, Savvy, played by Kim Molina).
Dimples embraced the “kontrabida” (antagonist) role through Daniela. While her character was much hated, Dimples received admiration for how well she portrayed her character.
Daniela gained fame on cyberspace, too, as fan-made memes from the season three trailer of “Kadenang Ginto” quickly spread on social media.
SCREENGRAB from Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat’s Instagram
Even the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Cavite governor Jonvic Remulla used the meme as a way of promoting tourism and announcing the suspension of classes in Cavite, respectively.
Eddie Garcia
The passing of Eddie Garcia at age 90 was this year’s biggest shocker.
Almost everyone, from celebritties, , fans and even those outside the entertainment world, immediately expressed concern for the much-beloved veteran actor, who lapsed into a coma following an accident while taping for a GMA teleserye.
Eddie Garcia
After the accident, fans and friends of the actor hoped that he would recover.
“Manoy”, however, died days later.
His death later led to an investigation by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on work place safety regulations.
The labor department ruled that GMA violated safety standards, and imposed a P890,000 fine.
John Lloyd Cruz
After a two-year hiatus, John Lloyd Cruz is slowly making a comeback.
John Lloyd Cruz in “Culion”
John Lloyd first made fans excited about his return as he became an endorser for a popular shawarma chain.
The actor was then teased to make a cameo in the Metro Manila Film Festival entry “Culion.”
The actor was also spotted this year with Bea Alonzo in Palawan and was a guest at Vhong Navarro’s wedding.
Jane De Leon
She caught everyone’s attention when she was named as the new “Darna.”
Image: Instagram/@iamjanedeleon
After Liza Soberano withdrew from the upcoming Star Cinema-produced film adaptation of “Darna”, due to an injury, the film production arm held public auditions in search of the new superheroine.
“Darna” director Jerrold Tarog revealed that film executives wanted a “fresh face” for the role.
Jane quickly became a hot topic. Twitter Philippines later revealed in December that she was the most-tweeted female name this year.